A twinkle in Jerome Baker’s eye let Benedictine coach Joe Schaefer know everything was going to be all right on Friday night at Twinsburg Tiger Stadium.
With the Bengals holding a slim 24-21 lead over Chagrin Falls in a Division IV, regional semifinal — and with the Tigers receiving the ball to start the half — there might have been cause for concern.
Well, until Schaefer got a look at his junior running back.
“He had a look in his eye when he came out at halftime,” Schaefer said. “It was pretty impressive.”
Not anywhere near as impressive as what was yet to come.
Baker scored two second-half touchdowns and paved the way for another with his blocking, leading Benedictine to a 52-35 victory over Chagrin Falls.
The win puts Benedictine (9-3) into a regional championship game next Friday against Youngstown Cardinal Mooney. The location of that game will be announced Sunday.
Baker finished with 19 carries for 252 yards, five touchdowns, an interception and a plethora of tackles.
The sheepishly soft-spoken junior said afterward it was likely the best game of his career. You would be hard-pressed to find anyone who watched the game to figure otherwise.
“I just try to do as much as I can,” Baker said. “Coach tells me to win the game. So I did as much as I could — and we got the win.”
Baker had touchdown runs of 32, 80 and 31 in the first half.
After sophomore Dontez Rash intercepted a pass on the second play of the third quarter, Baker needed only two carries to tack on his fourth touchdown of the night.
One drive later, Baker plowed over a linebacker and then a safety to spring Rash for a 46-yard touchdown run. Then after another Chagrin Falls punt, Baker finished off his night with a 32-yard touchdown run when he went untouched up the middle.
“I said before the game if we didn’t stop the back, we were going to be in trouble,” Chagrin Falls Coach Mark Iammarino said. “He made some great plays and did some great stuff. We got beat by a better team tonight.”
The start of the game was promising for Chagrin Falls (9-3), which took a 21-14 lead on a 1-yard touchdown run and two-point conversion run from Ed Shelley. It was part of a huge night for Shelley, who had three touchdown runs and a pair of field goals.
But Baker and the Bengals took over from there. And after a 29-yard field goal by Nick Judy, Benedictine got an interception from Iman Glanton that really stole the momentum from Chagrin.
On the next play, Baker ran in from 31 yards out.
Chagrin never recovered.
“The play that sticks out to me was after the interception, the very next snap he goes 45 or 50 yards or whatever,” Schaefer said.
Chagrin held decided advantages in total plays (75-to-38) and time of possession (30:33-to-17:27). But they couldn’t contain the big play capabilities of Baker & Co.
By the time Shelley tacked on two late scores, Benedictine’s backup defense was in the game.
Sean Mackin (14 carries, 58 yards) led Chagrin Falls’ rushing attack. Quarterback Michael Brigeman was 16-for-22 passing for 140 yards, but was intercepted three times.
Matt Iammarino had eight catches for 59 yards and also had nine carries for 36 yards.
“We felt if we could keep their offense off the field, we’d be in a good situation,” Mark Iammarino said of the game plan his team hoped to employ.
“I told them I know (the loss) is going to sting. Don’t let it sting too long, though. They accomplished a lot at Chagrin.”
Aside from Baker’s big night Rash had 82 yards on the ground with two scores. Brian Schoeffler was 2-for-6 passing for 46 yards.
Schaefer said his team isn’t satisfied with a win over the region’s top seed.
“We told them before the game that one win does not make a playoff run. Neither does two,” Schaefer said.
If the Bengals defeat Cardinal Mooney and get to the state final four?
“I’ll answer that after next week,” Schaefer said.